For over a decade, search engine optimisation has been in Net66’s DNA along with web design. In a 2015 survey from Smart Insights, it accounts for 45% of SME sector spending on digital advertising in the UK. On the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, one in two U.S. small businesses has yet to implement an SEO strategy, according to a survey by Clutch. Continue reading “Search Engine Optimisation: Are You Getting It?”
Holy citation needed or not, Batman… we at Net66 have learned of the Wikimedia Foundation’s latest announcement. Today, Jimmy Wales’ Wikimedia Foundation have declared their latest offensive on Google. This time, with the launch of a rival search engine. Continue reading “Rumours of a Rival Search Engine”
Imagine you’re going on holiday or about to make a major purchase. Among the first things you look at after price is the customer reviews. For your next trip, you look at customers’ experiences of the hotel, tour operator or airline. If purchasing white goods, you weigh up their responses to the item’s performance. The first place they turn to for product reviews is the internet. Continue reading “The Importance of Product Reviews in SEO”
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On the internet, Adobe Flash (née Macromedia Flash) has died gracefully in its sleep. In its wake came changes to HTML, which offered similar facilities to Adobe’s technologies. Today, Flash has diminished in general use. For example, YouTube supports HTML5 videos by default.
Introducing Accelerated Mobile Pages, a look at Google’s current framework for tablets and smartphones
On the 07 October 2015, Google introduced AMP. Also known as Accelerated Mobile Pages, it aims to reduce loading times on portable devices. Known on the Moz website as Diet HTML, pages load in a quarter of the time of standard web pages. With people viewing sites on mobile browsers likely to give up after 10 seconds wait, this framework placates the impatient. Continue reading “AMP Sets to Speed Up Mobile Browsing”
In some sources, it was claimed that favouritism was shown towards the Conservative Party on Google’s search engine results. Over the last three days, entering ‘Conservatives are’ was found to have returned no negative autocomplete suggestions. On entering ‘Labour are’, or ‘SNP are’ into Google’s search box returns negative suggestions. Continue reading “Ten SEO Related Google Queries using Autocomplete”
When you wake up in the morning, what’s the first thing you do? Switch off the alarm? Turn your smartphone or tablet on? If you fall in the latter, you’re probably the kind of person who wants to check the news, weather or traffic information prior to going out. You feel safe in the knowledge you’ve put the right coat on, or avoided the busiest roads. Could the Google Looking Glass (our name for it, not theirs as yet) be a suitable alternative to the tablet?
We at SEO Manchester Ltd are fans of Google’s enhanced recent tools, especially the enhanced 3D views seen in principal towns and cities all over the world. Their introduction of Tilt mode enables you to view three dimensional views in a number of perspectives, and isometric views. For our latest post, we have 12 examples of 3D imagery of noted landmarks around the world.
From then on, we shall let the pictures do most of the talking.
Web browsers, when kept to speed with the latest updates are made more secure, immune from the latest insecurities. This year, Google is set to go a step further. Through its Chrome browser, it intends to ‘shame’ websites that are hosted on a HTTP domain. Continue reading “Chrome Blitz on Insecure Websites”
For many small businesses, our customers, and of course Net66 ourselves, there is a rush towards HMRC’s Self Assessment deadline (which is midnight, on the 31 January 2016). Tax rates are non-negotiable and, whether you are a one-man band or a multinational concern, this means the deadline for online annual tax returns. Taxation, at best, is the bargain we strike with HMRC for keeping our streets in tip-top condition, and the funding of our public services. Whether you pay the basic rate of Income Tax or VAT on a meal out, it is inescapable. Continue reading “Google Tax Deal Sparks Fresh Inquiry”
Over at Net66, some egg-citing news about Cadbury’s Creme Egg café in London has inspired our latest entry. Many of you may be familiar with easter eggs in DVD or Blu Ray titles as well as the chocolate variety. In the search engine world, Google’s easter eggs and jokes are just as familiar as the Smarties or Buttons eggs you remember. Continue reading “Google Easter Eggs and Jokes: Google’s Funny Side”
The Northern Powerhouse, whether you think of it as a meaningful attempt to invest in Northern England or a throwaway gimmick, seems to be stuck in the internet slow lane. According to the Manchester Evening News and OFCOM’s Connected Nations report, Manchester has some of the slowest broadband speeds in Northern England. Most of the slower speeds have been concentrated in residential properties throughout the city centre. Continue reading “GM Broadband Speeds Stuck in the Bus Lane”
From last Tuesday [12 January], Microsoft has discontinued support for Internet Explorer versions 8, 9 and 10. Security issues and susceptibility to hacking attacks have rendered the three browsers obsolete. This leaves IE11 as the only browser from the Internet Explorer stable to retain support. Edge now succeeds IE, with Windows 10 being the first operating system to support the new browser. Continue reading “IE Insecurities Sends Users Closer to the Edge”
In the last twelve years, the SEO world has changed dramatically. We have seen search engines and algorithms come and go; the demise of IE6 and the rise of Google Chrome; and, most importantly, the rise of social media. Back in 2004, social media meant MySpace and LiveJournal. After the flurry of the DotCom Boom, the internets started to grow up (though found time for cat pictures and video clips). Meanwhile, from a spare bedroom in Heywood, Lancashire, came Net66. Continue reading “Net66 at 12: A Dozen Reasons to Celebrate”
For many people, our chosen plumber, bakery, takeaway or minicab firm can be determined by word of mouth. Sometimes, the odd status update on Facebook can sway our preferences. A review site like Trip Advisor or Yelp is another source. Since yesterday, Facebook became another source. Through Facebook Professional Services, it offers access to customer reviews, with links to each company’s Facebook pages. Continue reading “Facebook Professional Services: A Yelp Killer?”
Over the last four months, Google have been quietly working on a new artificial intelligence based algorithm. Known as RankBrain, it aims to settle pub arguments and revolutionise semantic search. As well as being able to search for ‘Dorking’, you can also ask Google, ‘How far from Dorking to London’. Continue reading “RankBrain Explained: Google’s AI Based Algorithm”
A useful yet underappreciated part of Google’s search tools has been axed with little protest this week. The Google Search Location Filter allowed its users to filter results by location. For example, browsers living in the United States were able to narrow results down to State level. They could search for products and services within Detroit and narrow results down to businesses in Michigan. Continue reading “Google Search Location Filter Axed”
A study from the City of New York University has looked at more than 7,000 Yelp restaurant reviews with some shocking results. Sharon Zukin, the sociologist behind the study, and her team have noticed some racist leanings in a number of reviews. In their findings, published on the Journal of Consumer Culture website:
Continue reading “Racist Restaurant Reviews “Accelerating Gentrification””
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